She’ll pay her debt to the Lancasters for what the Miltons did.
12
Dahlia
The warmth of the house is calming, it feels like home. My run-in with Ares has my blood hot from frustration and desire. Why he’s taunting me, I don’t know. I wanted to talk to him about my father, about our families, but with his friend there, it felt awkward.
I have a feeling Etienne does know about the feud between our families, but I wanted privacy. To be alone with Ares. Perhaps I could get through to him. Maybe I can learn who I really am. Because right now, it feels as if I’m a stranger looking in on my life, and I don’t recognize myself.
Gran strolls into my bedroom with a mug of hot coffee and a side plate filled with chocolate chip cookies. One of my favorite confections.
“How was school?”
“Fine.” My response is more clipped than I wanted, and her graying brow arches in question. I didn’t want to tell her, but now I feel I have to.
She stares at me, long and hard, and I wonder if she’s going to forbid me to go out. Perhaps Dad told her about me being a homebody, not going out at all. But now that I’m here, I’d like to learn about who I am, about my past.
“Just remember what I told you. Be careful who you trust in this town,” Gran finally tells me as she settles herself on my bed. There’s a far-off look in her eyes, and I wonder if she’s thinking about what Dad had been through while he lived here.
“Does this have something to do with Dad?”
At my question, her gaze snaps to mine, guilt flashes in her eyes before it’s gone, her face turning to stone right before me. “Your father was a good man.”
“He was, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t make mistakes,” I counter. Deep down, I know my father wasn’t a saint. Even though he caught the bad guys, there must’ve been things he’d done in his youth that he may regret now. If he were still alive.
“Dahlia,” she says my name with so much affection, it stills my heart for a moment. I’d only ever met her twice as I was growing up, but the way she’s looking at me right now, it makes me feel as if I’m not alone. “There are many secrets in this town, far too many to even fathom. And your father had his fair share of mistakes he made while he lived here.”
“Is that why he moved?”
She’s silent, contemplative, as she looks at the soft burgundy carpet. I wonder if she’s going to respond. “He moved because he had to.”
“What does that mean?”
“Just be careful,” she says, rising from the bed and offering me a smile before turning to the doorway.
“Yes, Gran,” I sigh, knowing I won’t get the answers I seek from her. No. I’m going to have to ask Ares or even his dad. One of them has to tell me what the hell is going on. I watch her walk down the hallway, and I wonder how my life here is going to play out with her watching over me. Not only that, I have Rukaiya’s dad who’s probably going to be keeping tabs on us all the time as well.
Gran returns, holding a photo album, and sets it on the bed beside me. When she turns to regard me, her expression reminds me so much of Dad that it makes my chest ache.
“I’m just looking out for you, Lia,” she admits. I know she loves me, but I’m here, and I don’t need to be coddled. I’ve spent my life growing up with a man who went out and spent time in dangerous situations.
“Nothing is going to happen to me in this tiny town, Gran,” I say, immediately regretting it because I don’t want her to think I don’t appreciate what she’s done for me. “I just… I feel as if he’s here all the time. It’s as if he’s not gone at all.”
Her gaze lands on mine, and she nods slowly and smiles. “I know, child,” she admits. “At times, I wonder if I remember him. That’s why I keep all these small mementos because… He was my son, but he was so independent. Don’t think badly of him for what he did, how he raised you. He just wanted you safe.”
“I know he did, even though he didn’t like me worrying about him,” I tell her. “Each time he walked out the door, he made sure I would be okay if something happened to him.”
There were times I wondered if my father would come home. He worked in organizations alongside men who were violent, lethal, and dangerous. His job took him places I didn’t know about, he met people who could easily kill him, and one day, they did.